Plural-nozzle surface conditioning blowpipe apparatus



Oct. 10, 1950 A. J. MILLER EI'AL PLURAL-NOZZLE SURFACE CONDITIONING BLOWPIPE APPARATUS Filed April 10, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 N l I N INVENTORS I N ALFRED J. MILLER JOHN KOLODY ATTORNEY Oct. 10, 1950 I 2,524,920

A. J. MILLER ETAL PLURAL-NOZZLE SURFACE CONDITIONING BLOWPIPE APPARATUS Filed April 10, 1 946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 w f/Q Z6 40 52 59 I4 I 45 t 4/ I; I5 58 I 5 46 42 I I 45. I INVENTORS ALFRED J. M/LLER JOHN KOLODV ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 10, 1950 PLURAL-NOZZLE SURFACE CONDITIONING BLOWPIPE APPARATUS Y Alfred J. Miller, Garwood, and John Kolodyp Basking Ridge, N. 3., assignors to The Linde Air Products Company, a corporation of Ohio Application April Ill, 1946, Serial No. 661,171

This invention relates to surface conditioning apparatus and more particularly to machines for thermochemically conditioning a surface of a metal body by applying agaseous stream against and along such asurface. Desurfacing machines usually include at least one row of nozzles each of which is adapted to discharge a jet of oxidizing gas and one or more jets of combustible gas which upon ignition burn to form preheating flames. The nozzles are preferably so spaced that the lateral portions of the individual jets of oxidizing gas merge to form a substantially sheet-like stream for thermochemically removing a relatively shallow layer of surface metal from a ferrous metal body such as a steel billet;

Desurfacing machines havebeen developed for conditioning the longitudinal surfaces of each of a succession of ferrous metal bodies of the same size or of different sizes, and provided with means for selectively turning on or off the'fiow of gas to a predetermined number of passages or nozzles or discharge portsfto controlthe flow of gases to a predetermined number of nozzles so that the width of the sheet-like stream of oxidizing gas and preferably the length of the row of preheating flames can be varied in accordance with the width of the surface undergoing treatment;

The main object of the present invention is to simplify and improve the'construction and operation of the provisions for the selective control of the width of'the sheet-like gas stream.

Desurfacing machines heretofore in use, have employed mixers for mixing gases such as oxygen and acetylene. These mixers were expensive be cause of the precision required in their manufa ture. .Also'a great amount of tubing was necessary for conducting the mixture to the preheat passages of the nozzles. As a resultof the presence of a combustible mixture in the tubing; this arrangement was subject to flash-back which ruptured or melted the tubing and required'expen sive replacement, even though water sprays were provided for cooling the tubing.

Other objects of the invention are therefore to eliminate the mixers and much of the tubing and water sprays for cooling the same, to avoid back fire in the tubingto reduce the size, weightjand maintenance expense for the machine, and to facilitate the cleaning of the nozzle head and replacement of the nozzles.

Other objects and features of novelty will be apparent as the following description proceeds, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in

which: 7 V

Fig. 1 is afront elevation of a desurfacing machine embodying the improvements according to the preferred embodiment of the present-invention;

I 6 Claims. (Cl. 158-2741) Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1.

According to the present invention, the nozzles arepreferably of the post-mixed or externally mixed type, in which acetylene is fed separate to an orifice adjacent to the desurfacing oxygen orifice and mixed with a relatively small quantity of oxygen discharged by the desurfacing oxygen passage, to produce a post-mixed oxy-acetylene flame for initially heating the work. The flow block and manifold. block have mating faces, and

passages in eachwhich register when the faces are joined; A selector valve is mounted in the' manifold block for determining the'number ofnozzles in operation in accordance with the width of the stock being desurfaced. The manifold block has separate manifolds and selector valves for oxygen and acetylene, and the selector valve pistons are coupled to supply respective gases to the same number of nozzles.

In the drawings there is illustrated an upper desurfacing unit U, and a portion only of a lower desurfacing unit L. These units are mounted to, be moved toward and away from the workpiece, for example a shown in Chelborg et a1. Patent No. 2,323,977. The upper desurfacing unit U includes desurfacing heads T and R for conditioning the top and right-hand longitudinal surfaces of the work;-

The lower desurfacing unit L includes similar but oppositely disposed heads for conditioning the remaining surfaces of the work. These' four heads, are so constructed and arranged that the area,

of the opening enclosed by the heads may be varied, whereby the longitudinal surfaces of each of a succession of ferrous metal bodies of the same size or of different sizes may be readily desurfaced In the form shown, the headT is carried by a carrier plate C, vertically slidably mounted on the frame F, and adapted to be raised and lowered,

by a screw S turned by a handwheel I-I.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 3, all of the.

desurfacing heads are substantially similar and each includes a nozzle blocl: l0 adapted to. receive and operatively retain therein a row of nozzles N. 7 These nozzles are preferably of the postmixedor externally mixed type, such for example as disclosed in the copending application of Buckv 2,524,92 UNITED TES PATENT OFFICE,"

3 nam et al. Serial No. 478,202, filed March 6, 1943, now Patent No. 2,425,709, granted August 19, 1946. Each head also includes a nozzle protecting shoe l2 which is fastened to the block IE3 and fully encloses the nozzles N except the outlet end thereof.

Each of the nozzle blocks 19 contains suitable passages for separately supplying oxidizing gas such as oxygen, to the central relatively large oxygen passages of each of the nozzles N and also contains suitable passages for separately supplying a combustible gas, such as acetylene, to the annularly disposed preheat passages of each of the nozzles N.

Preheat acetylene is supplied through passages I4 in the nozzle block it to the inlet end of the preheat passages in the corresponding nozzles N. The preheat acetylene is discharged in the form of one or more jets from each of the nozzles and upon ignition burns to form preheat flames to heat a starting zone to the ignition temperature of the metal and/or to aid in more efficiently thermochemically removing surface metal.

Desurfacing oxygen is supplied through passage IS in the nozzle block W to the inlet end of the central oxygen passage in the corresponding nozzles N so that each nozzle also discharges through a suitable relatively large discharge port a relatively voluminous jet of oxygen which is applied obliquely against and along the surface of the work to thermochemically react with the heated surface metal to remove a relatively shallow layer of such metal. The nozzles N in a rov. are preferably so spaced that the lateral portions of the individual jets of oxygen merge to form a compositesheet-like stream of oxygen which will remove a relatively shallow layer of metal substantially uniform in depth.

There is a pair of. passages l4 and [5 in the nozzle block 19 for each nozzle in each row, and all of the passages are connected to corresponding passages in a manifold block it, which provides means for quickly and easily connecting and disconnecting the passages so that the nozzle block can be removed from the machine for repair or replacement.

As described in previously mentioned U. S. Patent No. 2,323,977, the desurfacing heads are so arranged and supported that the heads can readily be adjusted toward and away from the center of the enclosed area to vary the size and shape of this area in accordance with the cross-sectional size of the body to be desurfaced. To permit such adjustment,'a similar end I! of each head is positioned inside of the adjacent head so that the effective width and the exposed width of each head is measured from the end l1; thus when the effective width of a head is to be reduced, the flow of gases to the nozzles farthest from the end I! are progressively turned off until the effective width has been reduced to the desired amount.

As described in Bucknam et al. Patent No. 2,392,806, when steel bodies of different cross sections are successively desurfaced the width of the composite gas stream from each of the heads must be changed in accordance with the width of the corresponding longitudinal surface. As described in our copending application jointly with W. C. Weidner, Serial No. 477,984, filed March 4, 1943, now Patent No. 2,429,326, issued October 21, 1947, there isprovided a fluid control mechanism for discharging a fluid stream having any selected one of a number of different widths of a predetermined maximum or less. Separate mechanisms are provided for controlling the effective widths of the gas streams discharged by each of the heads, and as these mechanisms are substantially similar, only one'such mechanism Will be described in detail. According to the present invention these mechanisms are mounted in the manifold blocks l6 which support the corresponding nozzle blocks I10.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 2 showing the control mechanism and valving device for varying the effective width of the top desurfacing head it, such mechanism includes a preheat acetylene manifold I8 and a desurfacing oxygen manifold I9, both formed in the manifold block I6. One end of the acetylene manifold l8 com-- municates with an acetylene supply hose 29, and the other end of the manifold is closed by a gear box 22 having a piston rod 23 extending therethrough into cap 2Q which encloses the outer end of the piston rodand is suitably sealed to prevent the entrance of dirt and foreign matter. The inner end of the piston rod 23 has a valve member or piston head 25 attached thereto which is longitudinally movable in the bore of the manifold I8 and which engages the inner surface of the base so as to prevent gas flowing past the head 25.

The acetylene manifold i8 is provided with branch passages 26 formed in the manifold block Hi, there being a passage 26 for each nozzle N in the head if], and which register with the acetylene passages M in the head If]. Thus acetylene can fiow from the hose 26, manifold l8 and registering passages 26 and M to the preheat passages of the respective nozzles N. When the piston rod 23 is moved toward the right from the position shown in Fig. 2, the flow of acetylene to the corresponding nozzles is progressively shut off starting with the nozzle farthest from the end ll so that the effective width of preheating flame provided by the head H! is progressively reduced.

The desurfacing oxygen manifold is is substantially the same as the acetylene manifold 18, although larger because of the greater volume of oxygen required. These manifolds are formed by parallel bores in the manifold block l6, which is provided at one end with a detachable hose block 21' similarly passaged and asketed to supply respective gases to the manifolds, and connected to the acetylene hose 20, and an oxygen hose 28 for the manifold IS.

A piston rod 29 extends through the gear box 22 and has its outer end housed in a cap 39. The inner end of the rod 29 is provided with a piston head 31 which can be moved longitudinally in the bore of manifold I9 to turn on or off the flow of desurfacing oxygen to the nozzles farthest from the end I! of head iil, the manifold l9 being provided with branch passages 32 which register with the desurfacing oxygen passages E5 in the nozzle block It). The piston rods 23 and 29 are provided with rack teeth so as to mesh respectively with pinions 33 and. 34 keyed on the same control shaft 35 journaled in the gear box 22. The number of nozzles in operation can be selected by turning the shaft 35 with a suitable wrench or motor.

The manifold block I6 is cored out to form a cooling jacket 36 for the manifolds i8 and 19, which jacket receives cooling medium through a hose 31. The shoe I2 is similarly cored out to form a cooling jacket 38 for the nozzles N. The jacket 36 communicates with the jacket 38 by registering passages 39 for the circulation of cooling medium therethrough. The mating faces of the manifold block l6 and the IiOZ/Zle block ID are provided with a gasket 40 suitably apertured for the registering passages and of suitable material to form a fluid-tight joint, the nozzle block I0 being bolted to the manifold block l6 by nuts 4|, which permit the nozzle block to be readily removed for repair or replacement.

The shoe i2 is also removable from the nozzle block I0, the mating faces thereof being provided with a suitable gasket 42 and secured together by bolts 43. The underside of the shoe I2 is provided with a skid portion 44 of wear-resisting material, and a removable nozzle face plate 45 is secured to the front of the shoe by bolts 48. Nozzle packing rings are held in place by the face plate, preventing the leakage of water around the nozzles. The cooling medium after circulating through the jackets 36 and 38 is discharged through the hose 47.

While one embodiment of the invention has been described in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the precise details disclosed, but instead embraces such embodiments of the broad idea as fall within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. In apparatus for surface conditioning metal bodies, a surface conditioning head comprising a nozzle block and a manifold block having mating faces secured together, said nozzle block having a row of nozzles adapted to discharge a sheet-like gas stream in a zone extending across a metal body, said nozzle block having an oxygen passage and a separate fuel gas passage for each nozzle extending to respective orifices in its mating face, said manifold block having a main common fuel gas supply passage with smaller passages branching off therefrom at spaced intervals therealong 6 out of the same nozzle to form a post mixed preheat fiame.

3. In apparatus for surface conditioning metal bodies, a surface conditioning head comprising a manifold block and a quick detachable multiple nozzle block having mating faces, said nozzle block having a row of nozzles adapted to discharge a sheet-like gas stream in a zone extending across a metal body, said nozzle block having an oxygen passage and a separate fuel gas passage for each nozzle extending to respective orifices in its mating face, said manifold block having a main common fuel gas supply passage with smaller passages branching off therefrom at spaced intervals therealong and 'leading to respective fuel gas orifices in its and leading to respective fuel gas orifices in its mating face registering with corresponding fuel gas orifices in the mating face of said nozzle block, said manifold block also having a main oxygen supply passage with smaller passages branching off therefrom at spaced intervals therealong and leading to respective oxygen orifices in its mating face registering with corresponding oxygen orifices in the mating face of said nozzle block.

. ing a row of post mixed nozzles removably mounted therein adapted to discharge a sheet-like gas stream in a zone extending across a metal body, said nozzle block having an oxygen passage and a separate fuel gas passage for each nozzle extending to respective orifices in its mating face, said manifold block having a main common fuel gas supply passage with smaller passages branching ofi therefrom at spaced intervals therealong and leading to respective fuel gas orifices in its mating face registering with the corresponding fuel gas orifices in the mating face of said nozzle block, said manifold block also having a main oxygen supply passage with smaller passages branching oif therefrom at spaced intervals therealong and leading to respective oxygen orifices in its mating face registering with corresponding oxygen orifices in the mating face of said nozzle block, whereby fuel gas introduced into said manifold block main common fuel gas passage passes out each of said nozzles and is thereafter mixed with oxygen from said manifold block main common oxygen passage which passes mating face registering with corresponding fuel gas orifices in the mating face of said nozzle block, said manifold block also having a main oxygen supply passage with smaller passages branching off therefrom at spaced intervals therealong and leading to respective oxygen orifices in its mating face registering with corresponding oxygen orifices in the mating face of said nozzle block, and means for securing said nozzle block to said manifold block with said mating faces in gas-tight relation and with their respective orifices in register and constructed and arranged whereby said multiple nozzle block may be quickly disconnected and removed without disconnecting any piping.

4. Apparatus for surface conditioning metal bodies as claimed in claim 1, in combination with a carrier on which said surface conditioning head is mounted, in which said manifold block supports said nozzle block from said carrier.

5. Apparatus for surface conditioning metal bodies as claimed in claim 1, in which said nozzle block and said manifold block have water jackets with registering apertures in their mating faces separate from said fuel gas and oxygen orifices, whereby a common cooling medium circulating system is provided when said mating faces are secured together.

6. Apparatus for surface conditioning metal bodies as claimed in claim 1, for use upon bodies of different widths, in which said manifold block is provided with a selector valve having pistons simultaneously slidable in said main common fuel gas and oxygen passages respectively, for supplying fuel gas and oxygen to any predetermined but variable number of said nozzles, in order to correlate the width of such sheet-like gas stream to the width of the metal body to be surface conditioned.

ALFRED J. MILLER.

JOHN KOLODY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

, UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,199,951 Gorman May 7, 1940 2,200,259 Bucknam et al. May 14, 1940 2,228,114 Hess Jan, 7, 1941 2,309,128 McGuire l Jan. 26, 1943 2,337,106 Jacobsson Dec. 21, 1943 2,362,536 Bucknam Nov. 14, 1944 2,417,670 Anthes Mar, 18, 1947 2,435,117 'Babcock Jan. 27, 1948 2,456,784 Jones Dec, 21, 1948 

